What’s better than enjoying a plate of delicious seafood while looking out onto the ocean? Not much, actually. But if you can enjoy that meal and help Americans veterans at the same time, then all the better.
At the Cast-N-Cage restaurant on Bradenton Beach Pier in Florida, patrons can do just that. That’s because the eatery’s owners, Tammy Kemper-Pena and her husband Roland Pena, are veterans who want to hire other former service members. “We want to give veterans a place to work and feel comfortable where they can relate with other veterans and be able to share their stories and help them with any issues they may have,” Kemper-Pena told Randi Nissenbaum of Bay News 9.
Opening the restaurant marks a comeback in more ways than one. During her military service, Kemper-Pena suffered a back injury and two brain injuries, and Pena broke his back while serving in Iraq. Additionally, a year and a half ago, Tropical Storm Debby damaged the historic pier on which the Cast-N-Cage now sits in Sarasota Bay. The pier was closed for repairs until recently, when a bait shop opened and the Cast-N-Cage held its grand opening on March 1.
The Cast-N-Cage offers a ten percent discount to veterans and those who are on active military duty. They’ve already hired 10 veterans, and are looking to employ more. Navy veteran Glenn Schneider told Bay News 9, “It almost makes me cry. It’s touching that someone out there is helping other veterans.”
Judging from the photos on the restaurant’s Facebook page, there doesn’t look like any better place for a newly-returned veteran to recuperate than at this restaurant on the ocean filled with food, music, and camaraderie.
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